Underwater device for acquiring images of a water bottom

Abstract

The invention relates to an underwater device for capturing images of a seabed with multiple electrical function units, a control program for controlling one electrical function unit, another control program for controlling another electrical function unit, and at least one control device. The underwater device is characterised in that the underwater device is designed such that the control program and the other control program are selectively executable on the same control device or the control program is executable on one control device and the other control program is executable on another control device.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . An underwater device ( 1 ) for capturing images of a seabed, the underwater device comprising:
 multiple electrical function units,   a first control program for controlling a first electrical function unit of the multiple electrical function units,   a second control program for controlling a second electrical function unit of the multiple electrical function units,   a data bus providing bidirectional data exchange, wherein the data bus is a data line connection,   a first control device connected to the data bus, and   a second control device that is a separate unit from the first control device and does not share a circuit board with the first control device, wherein the second control device is selectively connected to the data bus,   a switch connected to the data bus between the first control device and the second control device, the switch having a plurality of connection interfaces,   wherein the multiple electrical function units are connected to the data bus and the multiple electrical function units can be modified by adding and/or replacing electrical function units by way of the plurality of connection interfaces;   wherein at least one additional control device is connectable to the data bus by way of the plurality of connection interfaces;   wherein a level of processing power needed to execute the first control program and the second control program depends on an operational deployment of the underwater device and/or the multiple electrical function units;   wherein (i) the first control program and the second control program are selectively executable on the first control device and (ii) the first control program and the second control program are selectively executable on the first control device and on the second control device, respectively, wherein allocation of execution is selected based on the level of processing power needed to execute the first control program and the second control program;   wherein the multiple electrical function units are configured to communicate with each other using a message-based communication protocol having a publish/subscribe mechanism.   
     
     
         2 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the communication protocol used for data communication comprises Message Queue Telemetry Transport Protocol (MQTT). 
     
     
         3 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that
 a. the message-based communication protocol is configured to allow the first electrical function unit and/or the second electrical function unit to publish information in at least one data channel of the data bus and/or that   b. the message-based communication protocol is configured to allow the first electrical function unit and/or the second electrical function unit to receive information from at least one data channel of the data bus.   
     
     
         4 . The underwater device according to  claim 3 , characterised in that
 a. the first control device is configured to publish the information of the first electrical function unit and/or the second electrical function unit in the at least one data channel or that   b. the first control device is configured to publish the information of the first electrical function unit in the at least one data channel and the second control device publishes the information of the second electrical function unit in the at least one data channel.   
     
     
         5 . The underwater device according to  claim 3 , characterised in that
 a. the first control device is configured to receive the information of the first electrical function unit and/or the second electrical function unit from the at least one data channel or that   b. the first control device is configured to receive the information of the first electrical function unit from the at least one data channel and the second control device receives the information of the second electrical function unit from the at least one data channel.   
     
     
         6 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 3 , characterised in that the underwater device ( 1 ) has a control centre configured to manage information published in a data channel by the first electrical function unit and/or by the second electrical function unit, wherein the control centre is configured to transmit the information published in the data channel to receiving means subscribed to the data channel. 
     
     
         7 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 6 , characterised in that the first control device and/or the second control device has the receiving means. 
     
     
         8 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 6 , characterised in that the first control device or the second control device has the control centre. 
     
     
         9 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the first electrical function unit and the second electrical function unit are directly connected in a data-transmitting manner, in particular in a releasable manner, to the first control device when the first control program and the second control program are executed on the first control device. 
     
     
         10 . The underwater device according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the first control device and the second control device are connected to one another in a data-transmitting manner, in particular in a releasable manner, by means of the data bus. 
     
     
         11 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the first electrical function unit is an image capture unit, in particular of modular design, for capturing an image of the seabed, wherein the image capture unit ( 4 )
 a. has a hyperspectral camera ( 5 ) for capturing images of the seabed and/or   b. has a colour camera ( 6 ), in particular an RGB camera, for capturing images of the seabed.   
     
     
         12 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the underwater device ( 1 ) is configured to map the seabed based on the captured images. 
     
     
         13 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the electrical function units include
 a. a position determination unit ( 7 ), in particular of modular design, for determining a position of the underwater device ( 1 );   b. a sensor unit, in particular of modular design, which has at least one sensor ( 9 ) connected in a data-transmitting manner to the first control device or the second control device; and/or   c. an electrical display device for indicating the operating state of the underwater device.   
     
     
         14 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the electrical function units include an energy distribution unit ( 14 ) for distributing electrical energy between an electrical energy source ( 10 ) and an electrical consumer, wherein the energy distribution unit ( 14 ) has at least one other sensor ( 11 ) which is connected in a data-transmitting manner to the first control device or the second control device. 
     
     
         15 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 14 , characterised in that current supplied to the electrical consumer or voltage applied to the electrical energy source ( 10 ) or to a data acquisition unit can be determined by means of the sensor ( 11 ). 
     
     
         16 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 13 , characterised in that a temperature or a humidity or a pressure within a cavity of the underwater device ( 1 ) can be determined by means of the sensor ( 9 ). 
     
     
         17 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 14 , characterised in that the underwater device ( 1 ) is configured to determine whether a hazardous condition exists for an electrical consumer based on the sensor value, and that the energy distribution unit ( 14 ) disconnects the electrical consumer from the electrical energy source ( 10 ) when a hazardous condition exists. 
     
     
         18 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised by an electrical energy source ( 10 ) for supplying electrical energy to an electrical consumer, wherein the electrical energy source ( 10 )
 a. is designed to be modular and/or   b. has a battery control device ( 23 ) for monitoring a battery condition and/or   c. is connectable to a housing ( 26 ) of the underwater device ( 1 ) in a releasable manner.   
     
     
         19 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the underwater device ( 1 ) does not comprise a propeller. 
     
     
         20 . The underwater device ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , characterised in that the underwater device ( 1 ) is a diver-operated underwater device or an autonomous underwater vehicle or a cable-guided underwater vehicle.